26 July 2004

Deadbeat Donors

A state appeals court ruled that a verbal agreement between a woman and her sperm donor was invalid, and ordered the man to pay child support for the woman’s twins.

The three-judge panel ruled Thursday that the deal between Joel McKiernan and Ivonne Ferguson — in which McKiernan donated his sperm and would not be obligated to pay any support — was unenforceable because of “legal, equitable and moral principles.”

Ostensibly this would place greater responsibility on sperm donors, which I believe would be a good thing. Currently, it seems in our culture, sperm and eggs are traded more as commodities than building blocks of life. A father is a father whether or not he wants to be absent.